Human Rights Council
Matthew He
Novice
Topic B: The Right to Adequate Housing and Protection from Forcible Evictions
Introduction
The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations
system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe
and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has
the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention
throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are elected by the UN
General Assembly. The Human Rights Council replaced the former United Nations Commission
on Human Rights.
The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 by resolution 60/251. Its first
session took place from 19 to 30 June 2006. One year later, the Council adopted its "Institution-building package" to guide its
work and set up its procedures and mechanisms.
Among them were the Universal Periodic Review mechanism which serves to assess the human rights situations in
all United Nations Member States, the Advisory Committee which serves as the Council’s “think tank” providing it with
expertise and advice on thematic human rights issues and the Complaint Procedure which allows individuals and organizations
to bring human rights violations to the attention of the Council.
The Human Rights Council also works with the UN Special Procedures established by the former Commission on
Human Rights and now assumed by the Council. These are made up of special rapporteurs, special representatives, and
independent experts and working groups that monitor, examine, advice and publicly report on thematic issues or human rights
situations in specific countries.
Background
Adequate Housing:
The right to adequate housing contains freedoms. These freedoms include:

Protection against forced evictions and the arbitrary destruction and demolition of one’s home;

The right to be free from arbitrary interference with one’s home, privacy and family; and

The right to choose one’s residence, to determine where to live and to freedom of movement.
Forcible Evictions:
Forcible evictions is defined as permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities
from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other
protection.
Issues
1.
Homeless People
The sheltering of homeless people is a major concern in regards to the topic of adequate housing. Homeless shelters
are temporary residences of desperation for homeless people which seek to protect vulnerable populations from the
often devastating effects of homelessness while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact on the community.
They are similar to but distinguishable from various types of emergency shelters, which are typically operated for
specific circumstances and populations - fleeing natural disasters or abusive social circumstances. Homeless shelters
do not provide a solution to homelessness, as it does not fall into the definition of adequate housing. Many homeless
people remain living on the streets as a result of their loss of the right to adequate housing.
2.
Women
Although data are lacking and figures are hard to estimate, it is widely thought that women represent an important
proportion of those who are inadequately housed. Women face discrimination in many aspects of housing because
they are women, or because of other factors such as poverty, age, class, sexual orientation or ethnicity. In many parts
of the world, and especially in rural areas, women’s enjoyment of the right to adequate housing often depends on their
access to and control over land and property. Discrimination against women in the housing sphere can be caused, for
instance, by: discriminatory statutory laws; gender-neutral laws and policies that fail to take into account women’s
special circumstances (such as their vulnerability to sexual and gender-based violence); the predominance of
customary laws and practices which discriminate against women; bias in the judiciary and public administration; lack
of access to remedies, information or decision-making processes; and lack of awareness of rights. This discrimination
is underpinned by structural and historical factors.
3.
Children
Children’s health, educational advancement and overall well-being are deeply influenced by the quality of housing in
which they live. Lack of adequate housing, forced evictions or homelessness tend to have a profound impact on
children due to their specific needs, affecting their growth, development and enjoyment of a whole range of human
rights, including the right to education, health and personal security.
4.
Slum Dwellers
By the end of 2008, half of the world’s population was thought to be living in cities, many without adequate
infrastructure and services. UN-Habitat notes that the most insecure urban residents are the world’s 1 billion poor
people living in slums. More than 930 million slum-dwellers live in developing countries, where they constitute 42
per cent of the urban population. This proportion is particularly high in Sub-Saharan Africa, where slum-dwellers
make up 72 per cent of the urban population, and in Southern Asia, where they represent 59 per cent. Slums are
blighted by a lack of durable housing, insufficient living space, a lack of clean water, inadequate sanitation, etc. Due
to the informal nature of their settlements, slum-dwellers often lack tenure security, which makes them vulnerable to
forced evictions, threats and other forms of harassment. UN-Habitat reports that around 2 million people, most of
them slum-dwellers, are forcibly evicted every year. The effects of forced evictions on slum-dwellers are often
disastrous, leaving them homeless and forcing them deeper into poverty.
6.
Displaced persons and migrants
People on the move, whether they are refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) or migrants, are
particularly vulnerable to a range 25 of human rights violations, including violations of the right to adequate housing.
Displaced persons are also particularly vulnerable to discrimination, racism and xenophobia, which can further
interfere with their ability to secure sustainable and adequate living conditions. People who have been forcibly
displaced will often have suffered trauma during their flight, and will have lost familiar coping strategies and support
mechanisms. Refugee and IDP camps around the world, particularly when displacement is protracted, are often
dilapidated and overcrowded, providing inadequate shelter and services. Sometimes their inhabitants enjoy no basic
services at all. Displaced women and girls living in camps can be subject to sexual and gender-based violence, for
instance because not enough attention is paid to their specific needs and vulnerabilities in the design and layout of the
camp.
7.
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are more likely than other groups to live in inadequate housing conditions and will often
experience systemic discrimination in the housing market. Of particular concern is their generally poor housing
situation (especially compared to majority populations), including inadequate basic services, their vulnerability as
groups affected by displacement, the insecure tenure they often have over their traditional lands, and the culturally
inappropriate housing alternatives often proposed by the authorities. Indigenous peoples suffer discrimination in
almost all aspects of housing: laws and policies discriminate against them for instance by failing to take account of
their specific circumstances; there is discrimination in the allocation of resources for housing, including credits and
loans; and private landlords discriminate against them in the rental market.
Past UN Actions
1. The UN – Habitat committee released a UN-Habitat Global Housing Strategy in response to the issues of the right to
adequate housing. The UN-Habitat Global Housing Strategy is a collaborative global movement towards adequate
housing for all and improving housing for and the living conditions of slum dwellers. Its main objective is to assist
member States in working towards the realization of the right to adequate housing. The Strategy Document contains
a comprehensive list of necessities to achieve in order to initiate and facilitate a global movement towards adequate
housing for all. The list includes the following:
(a) Continuous joint refinement of principles, methods and generic tools, building on a broad range of UNHabitat and its partners’ documents, including this framework document;
(b) Exchange of experiences between key actors through innovative approaches, including real-time followup on good practices as they emerge (utilizing social and professional media);
(c) Application of evidence-based research to address present-day challenges in housing, slum improvement
and prevention;
(d) Ensuring effectiveness at scale to impact on housing costs and overall housing market performance
contributing to slum prevention and improvement;
(e) Applying result-based management to achieve efficiency through partnerships with
Habitat Agenda partners with joint goals, planning and implementation;
(f) Development of capacity at the national and local levels to assist Governments and other Habitat Agenda
partners in localizing the Global Housing Strategy;
(g) Mobilization of international cooperative support towards adequate housing for all;
(h) Contribution to discussions on the post-2015 Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals to ensure
that housing, slum upgrading and prevention are adequately addressed;
(i) Continuous review of progress and disseminating lessons learned, including through the social media
and high visibility events such as sessions of the World Urban Forum;
(j) Provision of necessary inputs to Habitat III to ensure that the Global Housing Strategy goals are
adequately included as part and parcel of its outcomes.
Keys of the Resolution
1. What can individual nations do to advocate and enforce the right to adequate housing and protection from forcible
evictions?
2. What standard guidelines should be set internationally to meet a minimum requirement of adequate housing and
protection from forcible evictions?
3. How can the governments of individual nations help its citizens who are currently subject to inadequate housing?
4. How can the governments of individual nations help its citizens who have been victims of forcible evictions?
5. How can the quality of the adequate housing be evaluated to seek whether it meet standards or not?
6. Where can the funds needed to enforce adequate housing be drawn from?
7. How can the Human Rights Council educate the people of the world to the knowledge of their right to adequate housing
and forcible evictions?